The present invention relates to a shielded connector assembly and, more specifically, to a shielded connector assembly having a shielding plate and contact arrangement suitable for high-speed transmission of electrical signals.
Connector assemblies for high-speed transmission of electrical signals are commonly used in household game devices or personal computers. Because adjacent transmission paths used to perform high-speed transmission in connector assemblies may influence each other causing interference or crosstalk, it is desirable that adjacent transmission paths be shielded from each other. Various constructions have been devised for this purpose. An example of one such shielded connector assembly is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2583839. In this assembly, contacts are disposed in a plurality of rows inside an insulating housing. Characteristic impedance matching is accomplished for the transmission lines by inserting a shielding plate between adjacent contacts in the row direction. Connection parts of respective tines of the contacts and the shielding plate are inserted into a separate attachment wall attached to the insulating housing.
Another shielded connector assembly is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6(1994)-196224. This shielded connector assembly is not a board mount type connector, but is a xe2x80x9cdata link connectorxe2x80x9d in which contacts are also connected to electrical wires. This connector is attached to an end portion of the electrical wire or cable and has a shielding plate positioned between the contacts or terminals to prevent crosstalk.
Because the number of contacts used to achieve high-speed transmission in these connector assemblies is generally large, it becomes difficult to install the shielding plate between the contacts or terminals to reduce crosstalk as the pitch of the contacts becomes narrower. Further, for connectors similar to Japanese Patent No. 2583839, formation of a conductive pad or lands used for mounting on the attachment board becomes more difficult as the attachment pitch of the adjacent contacts becomes finer. In particular, when the connection parts of the tines of the contacts are inserted into through-holes in the attachment board and fastened by soldering, solder bridges are formed between the lands formed around the peripheries of the through-holes during soldering if the spacing of the through-holes is narrow. Additionally, because the attachment wall to which the tines of the contacts are attached is a separate part from the insulating housing, the number of parts required for assembly of the connector is increased. As a result of these problems, additional labor is required for assembly and there is an increase in the proportion of defective products causing additional repair work and increased labor and cost. Moreover, the structure is not an electromagnetic interference (EMI) resistant structure in that the shielding shell covers the entire insulating housing.
It is therefore desirable to develop a shielded connector assembly in which the shielding plate can be readily installed between the adjacent contacts having a narrow pitch to reduce crosstalk. It is also desirable to develop a shielded connector assembly that aligns the tine parts of the contacts and shielding plate without increasing the number of parts required for assembly, and to provide a shielded connector assembly that has an EMI-preventing function in addition to a crosstalk-preventing function.
This invention relates to a board mount type shielded connector assembly comprising an insulating housing having first contacts, second contacts and a shielding shell. The first contacts having first contact parts and first tine parts. The second contacts having second contact parts and second tine parts. The second contact parts having a length greater than the first contact parts and disposed alternately in at least one row with the first contact parts in the insulating housing. The second tine parts offset from the first tine parts and positioned substantially adjacent to the first tine parts in a direction perpendicular to the row. The shielding plate having a shielding surface extending in a direction perpendicular to the row. The shielding plate is attached to the insulating housing so that the shielding surface is disposed between the first and second tine parts in the row direction as a result of the offset of the second tine parts.